October wasn’t a great blogging month for me, because there’s really only one thing that mattered this month — the election. I started volunteering with the Biden campaign, which helps my stress levels a bit because at least I feel like I’m doing something. If you’re in the U.S., PLEASE VOTE! A great site to find voting information for your area, like where to drop off ballots and how to track your ballot, is IWILLVOTE.com.
Here’s what I read in October:
- City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty (audio)
- The Once and Future Witches by Alix F. Harrow
- Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham
- All Adults Here by Emma Straub (audio)
- Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian
- The Cruel Prince by Holly Black (audio)
- The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett (audio)
- The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
My favorite reads: The Vanishing Half had a great story and gave me so much to think about. I also recommend Dreamland Burning because it’s good historical fiction about the Tulsa Massacre of 1921, something most of us know little or nothing about. The Salt Path is a quiet, slow-paced read that is quite inspiring.
Most disappointing read: I almost quit on Holly Black’s The Cruel Prince, which seems to be kind of a love or hate read. It’s a little too YA for me, and I found the main character annoying at times — she takes risks that don’t make sense and doesn’t see things that should be obvious. Though it got a lot better by the end and sets up a sequel nicely. You may need to really love books about fae to get into this though. I was much more intrigued by the fantasy world established in Chakraborty’s City of Brass.
Books for challenges:
- Nonfiction: The Salt Path
- Mount TBR: Dreamland Burning
What I’m reading now: I’m tearing through Yaa Gyasi’s new book, Transcendent Kingdom. Absolutely love it. The audiobook is read by Bahni Turpin, who is so good. Even though I’ve heard her read a lot of books, every one feels different.
What’s coming up: I have an ARC of Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko. This is a book that won Australia’s Miles Franklin award, and I’m looking forward to reading it. I’ll also be reading Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead in November for my book club.
Added to my TBR: On October 7, Modern Mrs. Darcy published this list of “unputdownable mysteries and thrillers.” Since I love many of the authors on the list (Tana French, Jane Harper, Ausma Zehanat Khan, Emily St. John Mandel) I added much of the list to my TBR list.
Things that made me happy this month: My favorite show this month was Teenage Bounty Hunters. It’s smart and funny and warm, the perfect show for right now (even though it looks stupid, it’s not). Sadly, no one knew about this show and it’s already been cancelled. I also watched Normal People, which was really good and very close to the book – though there were things I didn’t love about the book, and that was true of the show as well.
Happy November – stay warm and join me in hoping for good results on Tuesday!
